Jackson Browne, "The Barricades Of Heaven"

Posted by Luminator (A) on September 9, 2016 at 22:02:03

All right, let's pay more attention to 1996, which was 20 (sigh) years ago.

In April '96, my girlfriend ACS and I were bowling partners. She worked weird hours at Genetech, and still did a few hours per week at various Victoria's Secret stores. If she weren't working after our Saturday evening bowling league, ACS would go out with me. Back then, near the cable car turnaround at the end of Hyde Street, there used to be a Friday's. We would order two different shakes (yum!), and share them. After dinner, we walked over to the iconic Tower Records at Jones & Columbus. They were playing Jackson Browne's Looking East, and "The Barricades Of Heaven" caught our attention. ACS bought the CD.

That summer, ACS quit bowling (she then focused on martial arts), moved from a 1-bedroom San Bruno apartment to a whole house in Pacifica. But we still did activities, and accompanied each other to our respective sports and hobbies. I wanted to replace my Signet SL-280B/U loudspeakers. We only had a budget of $1500, nowhere near enough for the Martin-Logan Aerius i ACS liked and said could double as a shoji screen, on which she could drape her VS lingerie.

ACS and I may have had different standards than the Stereotypical Audiophiles, but to us, those $1500 speakers were known more for being inaccurate, than for anything they did right. Most sounded hopelessly colored, warped, and just plain wrong.

Interestingly, when we went to Music Lovers Audio in Berkeley (not far from Cal, where ACS attended college), it was the Sonus Faber Concertino, which, according to ACS, "looked like Berkeley." The rough steel reminded her of the train tracks, the leatherette reminded her of the kind of furniture you'd find in small Berkeley homes, and the walnut cheeks, well, wasn't Music Lovers Audio on Walnut Street?

IIRC, the store used modest (Adcom, perhaps?) electronics on the Concertino. When playing "The Barricades Of Heaven," ACS puffed up her cheeks, which she used to describe systems which sounded bloated. But this time, she deflated her cheeks, meaning the Concertino didn't overblow the music. Moreover, ACS nodded and paid the compliment, "This actually sounds like California."

The point is, "The Barricades Of Heaven" permanently etched in your memory: where you were, what you were doing, and how you were feeling at the time. 20 years later, "The Barricades Of Heaven" doesn't let me forget details such as the ones I chronicled above.

-Lummy The Loch Monster

The Barricades Of Heaven (Open in New Window)

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Topic - Jackson Browne, "The Barricades Of Heaven" - Luminator 22:02:03 09/09/16 (2)

RE: Jackson Browne, "The Barricades Of Heaven" - fantja 12:43:56 09/10/16 (0)

One of my favorite JB songs...(nt) - mkuller 09:45:19 09/10/16 (0)

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